The experts had slapped a big warning for the people who believe and perform 'Cow dung therapy' to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. People in some of the areas in Northern India have been exercising weird methods to what they claim for developing immunity against the viral infection. While the nation is facing the horrendous second wave of the pandemic, the leaders and elected legislators of the Central ruling BJP have turned into doctors and campaigned that 'Gau mutra' and cow dung can cure the novel coronavirus. 

Though the cow excreta wasn't scientifically or medically proven that it has efficacy to cure the pandemic, the increasing number of people using cow urine and cow dung as the medicine for COVID-19 had equally worried the nation amid the dangerous second wave. While the BJP ruling Central government is appealing to the people to receive the vaccine, the leaders connected to the party and other Hindu-affiliated outfits are advocating for the use of cow dung therapy. 

With such a message, the therapy had attained popularity and the visuals had shown several people are taking the therapy despite the fact that it won't cure the pandemic. The health experts had risen the alarm over the possibility of fungal infection, called Mucormycosis or black fungus, due to the use of cow dung. The visuals from Gujarat had displayed that hundreds of people are taking cow dung therapy in the past few days. 

According to reports, doctors in Gujarat have warned against cow dung therapy saying that smearing of cow dung on the body does not give protection against coronavirus but may cause other infections including Mucormycosis. The experts have neither backed the therapy nor entertained the people to exercise. Speaking to a news agency, Dr. Dileep Mavlankar, Director of the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, said, "I don't know if this therapy would really help people. I have never come across any research which suggested that the application of cow dung on the body would increase immunity against coronavirus."

 Dr. Mona Desai, chairperson of the women's wing of the Indian Medical Association said, "Cow dung is nothing but body waste. Applying cow dung and urine can never boost immunity or protect you from coronavirus. People should consult doctors and stay away from such therapies. Instead of proving helpful, cow dung would give you other infections, including Mucormycosis."

The nation has grappled with serious concerns over the usage of cow dung therapy after the visuals from Gujarat had gone viral. According to reports, a small group of people has been visiting a cow shelter run by Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul Vishwavidya Prathisthanam to take the cow dung therapy with the belief that it increases immunity against the COVID-19 viral infection. 

The shelter houses over 200 cows and for the last one month, around 15 persons visit it every Sunday to apply cow dung and cow urine on the body and it is then washed off with cow's milk. What more worrying is that the centre has seen people including frontline workers and working in pharmacies are taking the therapy, which the experts fear would set out a bad precedent.